10 Oldest Museum in Indonesia (Based on the Establishment)

Oldest Museum – Well, while you are in Indonesia, beside enjoying all beautiful scenery or landscape and of course lovelies beaches, probably you would like also to learn a bit about our culture. There is no other places more suitable to do this than museums.

Herewith, 10 oldest museum in Indonesia that may provide you some insights about how Indonesian living in the past. The list is based on the year of establishment from the oldest to the youngest.

10 Oldest Museum in Indonesia

1. Puppet Museum

Year of establishment : 1640

Puppet Museum is a museum located in Pintu Besar Utara Street No. 27, West Jakarta. Building that looks unique and interesting has several times been renovated. The Puppet Museum is considered as the oldest museum in Indonesia.

The building was originally named De Oude Hollandsche Kerk ( “Old Dutch Church”) and it was firstly built in 1640. In 1732, the structure was repaired and renamed De Nieuwe Hollandse Kerk (New Church Netherlands) until 1808 when it was finally destroyed by an earthquake in . On the same ground, it was later built as the puppet museum and its use as a museum wasinaugurated on August 13, 1975. Although it has been restored, several old parts of the church still appears and show the architectural style of the past.

2. Maritime Museum

Year of establishment : (1652-1771)
Maritime Museum is a museum that holds collections relating to maritime life in Indonesia from Sabang (the name of Indonesia easternmost Island) to Merauke (The westernmost city)
The collection consists of various types of traditional boats with various shapes, styles and ornaments, until the VOC ship. Other collections can be found in the museum are various models and miniature of modern ships and equipment related to shipping activities.

Some parts of the museum displayed a collection of marine life, data types and distribution of fish in the waters of Indonesia and miscellaneous supplies of fishing and shipping such as navigation tools, anchor, binoculars, a model lighthouse and a variety of cannons), technology traditional boat building . There are also folklore inherited from various fishing communities in the archipelago.

The museum also displays the some histories and things related to Indonesian Navy, cartography collection, Onrust Island mockup, and still many more.
The museum is located in Pasar Ikan (Fish Market) Street No. 1 Sunda Kelapa, West Jakarta.

3. Fatahilah Museum

Year of establishment : (1707-1710)

The Museum is also known as the Jakarta History Museum. The builidng is located in the center of Fatahillah Square in Pintu Besar Utara Street No 27. There are two other museums in this square. You will also be impressed with a fountain in its center and a Portuguese cannon.

4. Museum Vredeburg

Year of establishment : (1760)

The building is the heritage from the era of Dutch East Indies . It was built in 1760.

The museum was originally a fortress located on the front of the Great Yogyakarta Palace. Now, the fort became a museum. Inside the fort , or museum there are dioramas telling about the history of Indonesia.

5. National Museum of the Republic of Indonesia

Year of establishment : (1778)
On 24 April, 1778 a group of intellectuals founded the Dutch scientific institute with the name Bataviaasch van Kunsten en Genotschap Wetenschappen, (Batavia Society for Arts and Sciences). This private entity had an aim of promoting research in the fields of art and science, especially in history, archeology, ethnography and physics, and publish the findings.
One of the founders JCM Radermacher contributed to the development and collection of cultural objects and books, which have great potential to start a museum and a library for the community.

6. Inscription Park Museum

Inscription Park Museum is a museum of cultural heritage legacy of the Dutch colonial period . The museum is located at Tanah Abang StreetNo. 1, Central Jakarta.

This museum has a collection of ancient tombstone or inscriptions as well as the miniature tomb typical of the 27 provinces in Indonesia. the collections are along with a collection of antique hearse.

The museum area of 1.2 ha is an open-air museum displaying works of art from the past the sculptor, engraver, calligrapher and poet.

7. Bank Indonesia Museum

Year of establishment : (1828)
Located on Pintu Besar Utara Street No. 3 West Jakarta (in front of Beos/Kota Train Station). This building was first built in 1828, the legacy of De Javasche Bank in the Dutch colonial period.

This museum presents information Bank Indonesia’s role in the history of the nation that began before the arrival of the westerns to the archipelago until the formation of Bank Indonesia in 1953. It also includes background and impact of Bank Indonesia policies for the public until 2005.

The presentation in the museum is packaged in such a way to take advantage of modern technology and multi-media, such as electronic displays, static panels, plasma televisions, and a diorama thereby creating the convenience of visitors to enjoy the Museum of Bank Indonesia. There are also the facts and the collection of historical objects in the period before the establishment of Bank Indonesia, as in the time of kingdoms archipelago, which include money numismatic collection that are also attractively displayed.

8. Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics

Year of Establishment : (1870)
This building was founded between 1866-1870, but that was inaugurated as a museum in 1976 by at that time Indonesia President Soeharto . The style of this building resembles the Classical Greece , the only one that use the style in Jakarta City.

Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum is located at Jalan Pos Kota No. 2, West Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. Museum is located exactly opposite the Jakarta History Museum . Itdisplays local ceramics from various regions in the country, from the era of the Majapahit Empire of the 14th century, and from various countries around the world.

9. Radya Pustaka Museum

Year of establishment : (1890)
It is the oldest museum in the city of Solo, which was established on October 28, 1890.

The museum has been educating and informing the visitors for a period of over one hundred years old, and still remains one of the most visited museums.

The museum displays a variety of exhibits, all of which will give you a reasonable understanding of the traditions and customs of Solo and Indonesia. Radya Museum Library has been built with the purpose of keeping books and the works of poets, writers and intellectuals of the past. Some of rare collections of arts and antiques such as gamelan, keris, wayang, wayang beber scroll, several Java books and the Netherlands can be found here.

10. Mulawarman Museum

Year of establoshment : (1971)

It is located in Tenggarong, about 45 Km from Samarinda , The Capital of East Kalimantan (Borneo). The name of the museum was after the name of the previous King of a Kingdom in

The museum was officially declared on 25 November 1971 by the Governor of East Kalimantan (Mr. HA Wahab Syahranie), which then was handed over to the Ministry of Education and Culture on 18 February 1976.

The collection includes: Kutai Royal Jewellery, ceramics of the period of Hindu and Islam, old spear, gamelan, throne, cannon swept the world, and the collection of the Sultan of Bulungan, Sand Sultan, Sultan Sambaliung, and Sultan Gunung Tabur.